Lessons from the "invasion" of Ceuta
MadridThis has been –or perhaps we should say it still is– a dramatic and crazy end to the school year. The fires in several provinces and the events in Ceuta are chilling. We were getting used to seeing the daily images of hundreds of people housed in sports centers while anxiously awaiting news about the fire and about their homes and belongings, when even harsher images assaulted us, such as those of tens of thousands of immigrants –especially young people, very young people– crossing from Morocco to Ceuta, in what the head of government himself, Pedro Sánchez, has described as a "violation of Spain's territorial integrity." An emergency situation, undoubtedly, which has provoked all sorts of reactions. And this is where the idea of madness fits in, due to the capacity that this situation and these images have to trigger the most barbaric and unacceptable comments and initiatives.
It is clear that no country can admit the illegal entry of fifty thousand immigrants in a few hours. Even less so a city like Ceuta, where 84,000 people live and where it is logical that during the first few hours there were people who dared not leave their homes. But the reaction of fear and self-protection that this event has provoked in the governments of various European countries –especially in Italy and Finland– I find unjustifiable. Meanwhile, the smug President of the United States, Donald Trump, took advantage of this crisis to advocate for his immigration policy, stating that we must "remember these images" because "this will be us in three years if the wrong side comes to power," that is, "if the Democrats come to power," a time when American citizens "will not live a very good life."
Beyond using the border violation in Ceuta for internal consumption, the State Department rounded out Trump's propaganda operation by announcing that "actions to defend Americans both at home and abroad from this threat were being considered, and we are ready to assist other European allies considering similar options." I don't know if this is really a message of friendship with Spain. I doubt it very much. The help that would be important from the Washington government should be to influence the king of Morocco and the authorities of that country to stop playing with fire regarding relations with Spain. Domestic policy also has episodes of madness, but anyone who thought we were in a situation that could be reminiscent of the seventies, that is, the end of Francoism, would be mistaken.
Donald Trump can keep his hypocritical solidarity in the face of the "invasion" of Ceuta. And European partners can get a move on if they don't want to lose leadership again in defending the interests of the European Union itself. Reestablishing border control policies and giving in to the temptation to not apply the Schengen treaty on freedom of movement due to the events in Ceuta makes no sense; it is an almost hysterical and disproportionate reaction that only reveals the inconsistency of some leaders. Support for Spain should come from backing European autonomy, which is so hard to defend on issues like the war in Ukraine and those in the Middle East and Iran.
The need for this response is even clearer when listening to the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, who on the one hand has expressed his support for Spain saying that "the United States stands with the people of Spain, and all Europeans, in the face of this flagrant violation of their sovereignty and human rights". But, on the other hand, he added that "this unacceptable incident is the direct result of the Spanish government's deliberate efforts to facilitate and promote massive illegal immigration into Europe". Trump himself capped it off in a meeting with members of his team at Camp David, where he referred to the upcoming US midterm elections, to assure that "if we are not in power, our country will suffer an invasion of such magnitude that the situation in Spain will seem insignificant". Who still remembersthat it was another American, Pope Leo XIV, who a few months ago, last June, said during his visit to Spain, in the Canary Islands, that Europe "cannot proclaim human dignity and get used to the Mediterranean and the Atlantic being cemeteries without tombstones". It was also Robert Prevost himself who, on his visit to the port of Arguineguín, also the scene of many dramas, called for "effective and persevering cooperation" from the entire international community in the face of migratory movements. In parallel, the European Pact on Migration and Asylum was entering into force, an agreement that enshrines the principle of border retention and allows countries to exempt themselves from hosting their quota of refugees to help receiving countries. They can do so by paying 20,000 euros per person.
The "humanitarian" dimension
A different sensitivity was shown by Pedro Sánchez and the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, to refer to the "humanitarian" dimension of the massive arrival of immigrants in Ceuta, among whom more than sixty deaths have already been counted. But at the same time they made it clear that action would be taken with force to restore normality. It is useless to reproduce the controversies about the legality or not of pushbacks. There is no one who can manage an entry of fifty thousand or more people as a specific border conflict, and an individualized administrative action has been initiated for each immigrant to resolve their situation. Sánchez and Robles already said that there would be returns to Morocco, as has finally happened.
They also explained that the government has decided to install buoys and other containment elements in the sea to ensure border control. The Minister of Defense's condition as a Supreme Court magistrate is very useful to Sánchez in circumstances like this. Robles's opinion carries special weight when the jurisprudence of this high court is being cited as a supposed brake on pushbacks of immigrants. Undoubtedly, it will not be in this case. And one last recommendation. It would also go much better for all of us regarding Morocco and Ceuta and Melilla if the government and the PP were capable of dialoguing and sharing strategies on international policy matters.